Chapter 4: First Kiss

They drove in silence.

It was a beautiful early fall afternoon. The O'Neills, safely belted into their new Subaru wagon, drove away from the medical office building where Sam had weathered yet another anxiety inspiring check-up. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she didn't feel much like talking.

Although Sam trusted, even liked, her obstetrician, she didn't like what the highly competent woman had to say. A person who valued the truth, Sam almost wished Dr. Eames would be a bit less specific in her predictions. All she heard these last few visits was a recitation of what could go wrong with the pregnancy. Jack, usually sitting in on these visits, always insisted the doctor had said far more than that, but Sam managed to focus on the negative. Time and time again, she'd come away with a litany of what her body might do to jeopardize their child.

Part of her knew she was being irrational. Still, the other part worried, worried and worried some more. It was bad enough her body, at the elderly age of forty-two, refused to function in the way it had when she was a non-pregnant twenty-two year old. To add insult to injury, Sam felt her current condition was forcing Jack to make changes he shouldn't have to make. This car for one; Sam knew her husband loved his truck. Still he'd traded it in for a vehicle she could get into more easily during these late weeks of pregnancy. And his job, the hours he'd taken off already just to accompany her to appointments, well the time was considerable.

"What'cha thinking?" Jack asked as nonchalantly as he could. A silent Sam, especially after one of these checkups, was usually not a good thing. His wife was developing quite an ability to dwell, and the outcome was seldom positive these days.

Sam took a moment to pull herself out of her own troubled thoughts. Startled to realize she'd totally ignored Jack since leaving the doctor's office, she turned toward him in the front seat of their new car.

"Sorry," she said, "I was in my own little world."

"You do that more and more these days," he answered, concern clear in his voice, his eyes fixed responsibly on the road ahead.

"I know," Sam replied. Then with a deep sigh, "Jack, I'm sorry I'm so much trouble. Women have babies all the time, and here I am, making a big deal out of it. What if I can't do it?"

The Subaru had been peacefully navigating the two lane highway from the medical center for the past ten minutes. All of a sudden, Jack signaled, slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. With the car safely in park, he turned to face his startled wife.

"The word genius is highly overrated," he said flatly.

"What?"

"You heard me," Jack said stubbornly. "You're a genius. I'm disappointed. I thought you'd know better."

"Know better than …?" Sam queried innocently.

Jack reached up to hold Sam's face in his hands, wiping away the tears that spilled unbidden. He had to admit, it frightened him to see his normally confident wife so ill at ease.

"Better than to think you could be a failure at anything," he said softly. "Better than to think I'd ever see you as trouble," Jack continued, doing his best to send her every shred of sincerity and love he could in his words.

Sam nodded silently, swiping impatiently at the tears she struggled to control.

Without further ado, Jack leaned in and kissed her gently, once on the lips, then on the forehead. Then, he returned to his usual driving position and put the car in gear. Within seconds, they were back in the flow of traffic.

For her part, Sam did her best to refocus her mind. Drying her tears, she began to notice her surroundings. At nearly 1800 hours, on this fall afternoon, the sun was low in the sky. They were clearly heading west; home was in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Jack asked innocently.

"Jack … where are we going?" Sam repeated.

"Oh … that," he said. "It's a surprise."

Surprise?"

"Sure," he said without missing a beat. "After all, it's a special day."

Sam thought for a minute, wracking her brain as to what special day it could be. She was pretty good at remembering holidays, birthdays, anniversaries. As she went through her mental catalogue, this particular date didn't seem to stand out.

"Tell me you don't remember," Jack teased, doing his best imitation of being wounded. "I'll have you know, this day meant a lot to me."

At that moment, Jack took a turn off the highway into a small secluded park. Sam knew this place.

She looked at Jack as he pulled over at a small clearing.

"It happened right under that tree, just before sundown, three years ago."

She couldn't believe it. He remembered. She almost didn't.

"How…?"

"How could I forget?" he responded, assuming the question. "After 10 years of waiting, how could I forget our first kiss?"

How he'd remembered this, Sam would never know. There hadn't been any commemorations the past two years.

She did remember this place though, coming to this place with Jack, three years ago, same time of year. She'd come to visit him in Washington. They'd both had enough of pretending and one thing led to another. Before either one knew what was happening, they were finally confessing their feelings. Soon they were in each other's arms. Just remembering that now helped her mood immeasurably. It would be okay. Jack was here, they were together and together they could do just about anything.

Sam graced her husband with one of her megawatt smiles, a full on reflection of joy she'd kept hidden the last few weeks. As Jack reached out to her, she realized the exact date really didn't matter. What mattered was that Jack had gone to the trouble of making this a special day.

"Come on, I brought a picnic," Jack said, a satisfied grin greeting her eyes. "Food, beer, milk for you of course, blankets, sweaters, everything we need."

"Of course you did," Sam answered. Holding Jack's eyes, she reached back to grasp his hand, holding it tightly in her own.

"Thank you," she said.

Their track record was clear, they could handle anything, Goa'ulds, picnics, or birthing babies. All she needed to do was remember that and act accordingly. They'd get through this together. They always had.

TBC

A/N: I was in story writing withdrawal, so I manufactured another special day for our favorite couple. Hope you liked.